The Brave and the Bold #14 Review

The Ghost Killers of Nanda Parbat
Written by Mark Waid
Art and cover by Scott Kolins

On this blog it is an unwritten rule but we only review good comics and the Brave and the Bold falls into that category. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it is Superman/Batman except with the whole DCU roster to work with. This months team up features Deadman [guess his power] and Green Arrow. The premise is that someone has unleashed an army of "Ghost killers" who possess people and once they leave the possessee they are instantly dead. They are lead by a former human who is now a reformed demon who wants to generically destroy the world with his little army. I enjoyed the opening sequence which Waid starts off with a action scene of Green Arrow fighting some ghost killers and Deadman saves him. Being unfamilar with the characters I cannot say wheter the dialog fit them but I certainly enjoyed it. Waid also has a sense of humor as shown by the scene in which a homeless lady explained to Green Arrow what he did to avoid getting hit by the car. The issue is very well paced, there is no stalling and the story flows very nicely as Waid clearly knows where he is going with the issue. The story is fairly shallow and this certainly isn't the slowburn approach but Waid shows glimpses of that deep story telling talent that makes this issue memorable. He does it in a nice scene where Green Arrow decides to kill a bunch of people who were possessed in order to save the city because they were dead anyway and you could since how uneasy he was in doing it but for the greater good means for the greater good. Waid also sprinkles light social commentary which I'm not a fan of [thank you JMS] but it isn't really hammy or heavy handed and it actually has a place in the story and doesn't serve to push forward any agenda [still looking at you JMS]. The issue ends on an ironical cliff hanger because Green Arrow threw Deadman off a cliff after shooting him with an arrow for an undisclosed reason. Bottom line is this, this issue isn't the deepest read but it has flashes of character development, humor on several occasions, and it is tighty plotted and an enjoyable read.


Art: Hit it and Quit It
Overall: GET IT

The Brave and the Bold #11 Review

Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Jerry Ordway, Bob Wiacek

Summary: The Brave and the Bold is a fun little title that DC puts out. It is a fun little title about superhero team ups. It starts Metamorpho who is being possessed by an alchemist (makes sense), he has just taken Green Lantern's lantern and combines with it to make a super terrorist guy. He takes out some time travelers with much ease. At the Daily Planet some bastard is pranking Clark by putting cheese and Olsen is about to snitch (nobody likes a snitch mmmmkay). Clark has just grown a pair and kicks some ass and breaks some wrists. He makes out with a blonde reporter then goes into the broom closet to change into Ultraman (what a twist). Superman happens to be hanging outside the window and they start brawling. It turns out that the alchemist is getting ready to do some real shit and the MXYZPTLK sent Ultraman to help Superman end this threat. They are flying towards the sun because his base is there but the super Metamorpho terrorist guy turns it green and Ultraman and Superman are screwed pretty hard, like prison sex hard.

Comments: I like this title is because it is a fun issue. Not much here. They have solid art, solid dialog, and it is all around a good time. Not much to say other than...

SKIM IT